Washington @ Los Angeles preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 18, 2019 ) Washington 3, Los Angeles 2

The first-place Washington Capitals try to continue steamrolling through their four-game road trip when they meet the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday. Washington, which boasts a seven-point lead on the New York Islanders in the Metropolitan Division, started its trek with a 5-2 victory over Detroit before cooling off San Jose on Tuesday by the same score.

The Capitals' John Carlson on Tuesday joined Hall of Famers Bobby Orr, Denis Potvin and Al MacInnis as the only expansion era defensemen to reach 40 points in the first 30 games of a season after recording a goal and two assists in his 29th contest. Los Angeles is happy to be playing on home ice, where it is 7-1-1 in its last nine games, after falling to 2-10-1 on the road with a 4-2 loss at Anaheim on Monday. “It seems to me we don’t bring the same energy on the road as we do at home,'' Kings coach Todd McLellan told reporters. "We take a lot of jabs, we get knocked down. We slowly pick ourselves up off the mat, then it’s too late. Can’t play that way. We’ve got some things we need to address and adjust to. I don’t know why it’s happening, but we certainly have to look at it.” Los Angeles has totaled five goals in its last three games with leading scorer Anze Kopitar kept off the scoresheet during that span.

TV: 10 p.m. ET, Sportsnet; NBCS Washington, FS West (Los Angeles)

ABOUT THE CAPITALS (20-4-5): Alex Ovechkin (team-high 20 goals) had his three-game scoring streak halted by San Jose after scoring five during that span and spearheads an offense loaded with weapons such as Jakub Vrana (14 goals), Evgeny Kuznetsov (11), T.J. Oshie (11) and Tom Wilson (10). Vrana has four goals in his last five games after scoring twice Tuesday and is on pace for 40, which would shatter his career high of 24 set last season. Nicklas Backstrom (upper body) missed his sixth straight game Tuesday but participated in the morning skate and told reporters: “We’re taking it slow here. I feel better at least.”

ABOUT THE KINGS (11-15-2): Rookie left wing Nikolai Prokhorkin has added some life to the low-scoring club (2.57 goals per game) by tallying in the last two games, giving him four goals in 11 career contests. Kopitar paces the team with 10 goals and 27 points, with seven scores and 10 assists coming in 15 home games. Ilya Kovalchuk (436 career goals) hasn't scored in nine games and owns a club-worst minus-10 rating.

OVERTIME

1. Washington G Ilya Samsonov is expected to play Wednesday after Braden Holtby improved to 14-2-4 by stopping 23 shots against San Jose.

2. Los Angeles has the third-worst power play after going 1-for-12 in its last five games while its fourth-worst penalty-killing unit is 11-for-12 during that span.

3. The Capitals swept last season's two meetings with Ovechkin scoring three goals and Kuznetsov recording two.

PREDICTION: Capitals 3, Kings 2